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There are many watersheds in life and that is as relevant to a band as an individual human. As a band is an entity and art form made up of human qualities, both for better or worse, it goes through the same trials and tribulations as us mere mortals and is affected by those out comes in the same way. Mostly Autumn appear to be at one of those watersheds. Their website has been reporting a split from their original record label, Classic rock Productions, which released their early work which now seems to be complete as this album has been released by Autumn records, a label owned by the band itself. What appears to have been the problem is that in an effort to push the band into a bigger market, Classic rock productions seemed to have exerted a corporate influence on the band resulting in shorter and more rock orientated songs. The previous album, passengers, bore testament to this and whilst it is as good an rock album as you could hope to find on the shelves, it does appear to be lacking some of the clever subtleties of their earlier work. Always a healthy and individual blend of folk and progressive rock, their work had an immediate identity all of its own, and whilst progressive music by its very definition is ever evolving, many were sorry to see this era come to an end. However with such a collection of wide ranging instruments and talented players making up the various pieces of the Mostly Autumn jigsaw, is it gone for ever or is this more straight forward version of the band just a passing phase. The latest release "Storms Over Still Water" might just hold the answer.

As the band slips from its no signature gentle opening into a big rock number, "Out of the Green" all seems familiar, that is until the vocals kick in. Bryn Josh, by his own admission a singer of feeling rather than technique seems to be struggling to find either and the normally ethereal Heather Findlay seems lost. Aiming for a sort of big rock chick sound she is definitely not doing what comes naturally. Still the big progressive-rock sound is there, and why not let the band settle for a short sharp opening number. The shock comes in the fact that the song is only three and a half minutes, very short by their standards. I guess what you have to bear in mind is that the songs were written under the watchful eye of Classic Rock Productions corporate plan and so we can expect more of this sort of thing. Hopefully the old Mostly Autumn will emerge as the album moves along.

And if I was hoping

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